Justin Rood is the Washington, D.C., correspondent for TPMMuckraker.com. Before joining TPM, he covered homeland security and intelligence for Government Executive magazine and Congressional Quarterly. His work has also appeared in the Washington Post, National Journal, the Washington Monthly, Salon.com and elsewhere.

A D.C. native, Justin earned his B.A. in American Studies at California’s Pitzer College. When he isn’t reporting he plays the popular Xbox driving game /Burnout 3: Takedown/. He says it is part of a doctor-prescribed therapy regimen to cure his addiction to foreign oil. He also eats cookies.

Justin: Good Night, and Good Muck

A little-known story from the very beginning of TPMmuckraker: a few days into the gig, Paul and I were still messing around and trying to figure out how to cover all the scandals that were out there. Let's divvy it...more »

Posted on January 31, 2007 6:36 PM

Lewis Legal Fees Hit $900K

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA), the longtime GOP appropriator who's facing a federal investigation as part of the Duke Cunningham scandal, dropped another $45,000 on legal fees in December, according to new documents filed with the Federal Election Commission. Lewis, the...more »

Posted on January 31, 2007 6:30 PM

Under FBI Scrutiny, Mollohan Runs up $160K Legal Bill

West Virginia congressman Alan Mollohan (D) has used $160,000 worth of services by a white collar criminal defense firm, according to new campaign filings. Mollohan, who chairs the House panel which controls the Justice Department budget (including the FBI), has...more »

Posted on January 31, 2007 1:08 PM

Admin to Tell Congress NSA Spying Details

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales will share with congressional leaders details of the NSA's domestic surveillance program that were seen by the court which approved the program's application, AP reports. Gonzales said the documents will be shared with Sens. Patrick Leahy...more »

Posted on January 31, 2007 12:42 PM

Crooked Congressman: Pay My Wife -- Please!

If that don't beat all. Facing federal indictment last August, then-Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) shut down his re-election campaign. (He confessed his guilt a month later.) He fired all of his staffers -- but one: his better half, Elizabeth. That's...more »

Posted on January 31, 2007 11:20 AM

Former Bush Iraq Chief to Dems: Bring. It. On.

C'mon, everybody: Let's get ready to rumble! We've just confirmed that the former Bush-appointed leader of the U.S. rebuilding effort in Iraq will face his longtime critic before a panel of the Democratic-led Congress to answer questions about his leadership....more »

Posted on January 30, 2007 3:29 PM

FBI "Vacuum Cleaner" Sucks Up Americans' Internet Records

Cnet News reports: The FBI appears to have adopted an invasive Internet surveillance technique that collects far more data on innocent Americans than previously has been disclosed. Instead of recording only what a particular suspect is doing, agents conducting investigations...more »

Posted on January 30, 2007 2:15 PM

Cheney Update: WH Phone Directory Found!

And we thought such a thing didn't exist: over at the tremendous Secrecy News , Steven Aftergood has just posted (pdf) a 2004 directory for the White House Office of the Vice President. Stamped "For Official Use Only," the four-page...more »

Posted on January 29, 2007 6:35 PM

BREAKING: 41 VP Staffers Found!

Thanks to Reader PD, we've identified what appears to be the entire staff of Vice President Dick Cheney's Senate office. As some of you have noted, Cheney maintains a White House staff, and a Senate staff, paid for out of...more »

Posted on January 29, 2007 5:14 PM

Veep Keeps Staff Size under Wraps

At TPM, David Kurtz recently mused on the irrational secrecy which has cloaked the Office of the Vice Presidency's staff list since Dick Cheney set up shop there. "It's about a perverse sense of entitlement and a deep aversion to...more »

Posted on January 29, 2007 1:50 PM